Success Stories:
Sunray BP Gas Station Finds Success in Recycling
The Sunray BP gas station in Saint Paul wanted to start a
recycling program for all the cardboard and plastic film they generated, but like
a lot of small businesses, they had limited space to work with. They also saw
the opportunity to offer recycling to their customers. So, they reached out to BizRecycling for assistance in starting a recycling program. BizRecycling
works with interested businesses of all sizes in Ramsey and Washington counties
to start or improve their recycling or organics programs.
BizRecycling connected Sunray BP with experienced recycling
experts who could help develop a better waste management plan for their
business. These experts offered Sunray BP advice and guidance on setting up
recycling. They also helped them apply for a BizRecycling grant to expand their dumpster enclosure
to include a recycling dumpster. The grant also paid for recycling bins and
signs at every fuel station, as well as recycling bins for inside the
convenience store and in the auto shop area. In addition, Sunray BP staff had
the opportunity to be trained by the recycling experts in recycling best
practices.
With their new recycling program and a trained
staff, the Sunray BP gas station reduced their trash collection from a six-yard
container emptied twice a week to a two-yard container emptied once a week.
They are now diverting over 30,000 pounds of recyclable materials per year and saving
over $3,000 a year on their garbage bill. Not only that, customer feedback has
been positive and staff are enthusiastic about recycling.
News You Can Use:
Funding
to Cities for New Recycling Carts
Last
year, the Ramsey County Board approved funding assistance for municipalities
towards the purchasing of recycling carts. North Oaks utilized this
funding to provide carts to their residents last January and in the first six
months, they saw a 20 percent increase in recycling. Now, 93 percent of their
households participate in the program and are collecting an additional 3.5 tons
of recyclable materials each week. Way to go, North Oaks!
Expand Your Recycling
So,
you are probably good about recycling cereal boxes, milk jugs, soup cans and
other items from your kitchen, but what about the rest of your house? Look in each room and you’ll find lots more
recyclable items! Tissue boxes, toilet paper tubes and toiletry boxes from your
bathroom are easy items to add to your recycling cart. Empty detergent bottles
and fabric softener boxes from the laundry room can be tossed into your
recycling cart, too. Don't forget about old magazines, catalogs and shipping
boxes from mail orders! Visit RamseyRecycles.com/generalrecycling
for a list of everyday items that are recyclable or contact your recycling
service provider for more information. Together, we CAN recycle more!
Solid
Waste Management Master Plan update
In August, Ramsey County held a public input period on the draft of the Solid
Waste Management Master Plan. Many comments were received from residents,
service providers, municipalities, community groups and other stakeholders. Staff
then made revisions based on these comments and sent a final draft to the
Ramsey County Board of Commissioners. On October 3, the County Board had a policy discussion about the plan and on October 10, the plan will be
presented to the County Board for adoption. Once the County Board approves the
Master Plan for adoption, it will be forwarded to the Minnesota Pollution Control
Agency for approval.
Ramsey County Board Approves Designation Ordinance
On October 3, the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners
approved amendments to the Ramsey County Solid Waste Ordinance to implement
designation of solid waste. Waste designation allows the county to enact an
ordinance that requires all or a portion of solid waste to be delivered to a
designated waste management facility. In this case, it's the Recycling & Energy
(R&E) Center, which Ramsey County co-owns with Washington County.
The role of waste designation is to ensure the supply of
Ramsey/Washington County waste in-order-to reduce the direct landfilling by
about 100,000 tons per year. This would increase the recovery of resources from
Ramsey/Washington waste.
Designation will help the counties meet state, regional and
county goals of using waste in the highest and best use. Under designation,
the counties can go as far as possible with source reduction and recycling,
while maintaining stable facility operations. It will ensure that all waste
from the two counties is delivered to the R&E Center, where metals are
recycled and trash is made into fuel to be converted to electricity, or at a
later date, biofuels.
Visit www.morevaluelesstrash.com
and click on “designation” for more information.
Did you know?
Leaves and grass dropped off at Ramsey County Yard Waste
sites are pushed into piles and hauled off-site to make a sellable compost
product. How is this done? Hired composting companies use a front-end loader to
scoop the leaves and grass, then dump the contents into large semi-trailers. It
is then delivered to various businesses where it is made into feedstock. The
compost is then sold to landscape companies, garden centers and residents.
However, at the White Bear Township site, leaves and grass
are composted onsite. The leaves are put into long rows, called windrows, and
turned with a special compost turner designed to grind and aerate the material.
This action causes the material to break down faster. This turning also helps
to heat up the compost, so weed seeds and plant pathogens are destroyed. After
composting for a year, the leaves and grass are completely broken down into an
earthy compost product.
When the compost is ready, it’s hauled from the White Bear
Township site to the other six-yard waste sites in Ramsey County for residents
to take for free. Many residents use the compost as a soil amendment on their
lawns or to grow gardens.
Compost benefits plant growth by increasing the organic
matter and nutrient content of the soil. This provides better soil structure
for root growth, retaining greater soil moisture and reducing problems with pests.
Visit RamseyRecycles.com/yardwaste to find out if
compost is available at a Ramsey County yard waste site.
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